Minnesota Mandates Meal and Work Breaks Starting January 1, 2026—With Automatic Penalties
Starting January 1, 2026, Minnesota employers must allow expanded breaks to all employees in Minnesota. Currently, employers are only required to provide “sufficient time to eat a meal” every eight hours of work, and “adequate time from work” to use the nearest restroom every four hours. This will change to a thirty-minute meal break when working more than six consecutive hours and a fifteen-minute work break every four consecutive work hours. Employers that fail to do so will be liable for an equal amount of time paid to the employee as liquidated damages. However, the amendments seemingly leave more questions than answers—which the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry (MNDOLI) is not ready to answer yet. Quick Hits The amended Minnesota Mandatory Meal Break and Mandatory Work Breaks laws provide that a meal break need not be paid (assuming employees receive the full thirty minutes uninterrupted) but work breaks must be paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay. The only exclus...